Hard to see where 900 pieces are used in this cute but smallish set. Used to be that 900 pieces meant something of a decent size. I guess there area a lot of 1x1 and similar sized bits. Colour scheme is excellent, though.
Oh well, I'll buy one of course, or two, but I had been hoping for something better.

In what way is LEGO off track? I confess I don't necessarily like everything they release, but is there a specific trend that has emerged that can be related to this one particular CEO who has been in power for less than a year, when most products probably take longer than that from conception to release?

Well, he didn't do them all. But the ones he didn't do.... well.... let's just say they are not the best in the series, both in terms of overall look, and in terms of cleverness of building techniques.
I don't want the series to end. I've seen amazing Cafe Corner style modulars done by AFOLs that would stand proudly next to Jaime's work. Here's hoping they keep it going, and here's hoping that Jamie continues to design big LEGO sets.

Jaime Berard is by far, in my opinion, the best LEGO designer. Everything he touches looks great (COUGH Emerald Night COUGH).
Of course I will buy it, in duplicate at least.
That said, I think this building doesn't really add much to the overall theme. I think they are running out of ideas (though I've seen pretty original ideas from AFOLs). This might be the swansong of the Cafe Corner series. It would not surprise me if they announce the end of the series after this set.

While this particular set holds very little appeal for me (crazy price for yet another race car with an interesting gear box but little else, that will just end up sitting on a shelf), I hope that it heralds a future of "ultimate" Technic constructions of a more interesting nature. In my opinion, for pure functionality in an elegant package, the 1980s' Airtech Claw Rig has yet to be surpassed. An upgraded, motorized version of that iconic Technic set would be my ideal high end technic set.
I hope that LEGO designers read these threads and consider what people say. I believe they do. So, here goes: for me any "ultimate" Technic construction would have motors, would have remote control, and would have a variety of fucntionalities that involve visible movement and manipulation. To that end, the LEGO Volvo loader from last year was much more of an "ultimate" Technic set for me. I only wished it worked a bit better (too slow, with erratic movement). And well designed pneumatics are more fun than linear actuators.

There is truth in this.
In the period from 2010 to 2012, LEGO released the best castle sets ever, from Medieval Market to Kingdom's Joust. Most of these fall under Kingdoms, except for Medieval Market, which doesn't really fit anywhere. It's just an amazing set. I have pretty much every set from every castle series ever made, and now Kingdom's is my favourite for pure quality of build. Sentimentality for childhood might make some think of classic castle or Forestmen, but the quality of the build, the parts, the colours, etc mostly can't compare to what's in the Kingdoms series.
Anyway, Forestmen were my favourite before Kingdoms came along.

Look up My Gifted Child. Their store or or near Victoria Park always had shelves in the back with some old LEGO.
You will never find any store as good as Lasting Toys. It's by far the best. Last time I was there they had a back room with stored LEGO sets that would boggle your mind.

If he has 300,000 subscribers, he can afford it because he is making a lot of money, probably 6 figures, from his LEGO work. That's how. It's a full time, well paying job.
EDIT: by LEGO work I mean what he is doing on Youtube. 300,000 subscribers is huge. Lots of money to be made.

LEGO has always been expensive.
And it's worth the money compared to what other "brick" makers produce.
Also, to me the boxes are a form of art onto themselves. I love LEGO boxes - wonderful display pieces.
What has changed from 20 or even 10 years ago, is that LEGO is making more sets than ever, and many of them are high quality. So a collector like I used to be would be spending more money than before just trying to keep up.
I have a huge LEGO collection from the 1980's to about 7 or 8 years ago, but it just got too much - too much money, too much space taken up, etc. So I mostly gave up, and I am slowly clearing things out through Bricklink or by gifting. LEGO is a more expensive hobby now than it was 20 years ago, for sure.